Winter Warmth
by softsolutions
Summary: In times where temperatures have plummeted to sub-zero, a little warmth and kindness from a close friend can help. Just another cold day in the bullpen. Predominantly Reid, Morgan and Prentiss. Mostly fluff. One shot.


It was one of those days where it had been snowing for a while, and everybody was past the initial excitement but started to see the cold weather as a bother. The concrete sidewalk was icy and easy to slip on unless you walked extremely slowly; frozen water within the cars prevented them from starting up and most flights had been cancelled because of the snow on the landing strips.

Still, the BAU team were at their desks, as early as seven in the morning, working away at the files and reports. Several sneezes and coughs would echo regularly in the bullpen but other than that, a comfortable, quiet atmosphere surrounded Reid, Morgan and Prentiss. Since it was a Friday, nobody could really complain but instead work diligently with the prospects of a relaxing weekend ahead of them, provided they weren't called for a case of course.

The sound of a mug being placed on a desk surprised Reid out of his trance like state where his hand seemed to move at an inhuman pace. The genius looked beside him and saw a full cup of hot steaming coffee next to his pile of files. The aroma clouded his senses and he inhaled deeply. When he glanced up, he saw Morgan's figure walk towards Prentiss to place another mug of coffee on her desk before moving to sit back at his own. Reid wasn't sure when his empty cup had even left his desk but he sipped the warm liquid appreciatively, noting how it was made just as he liked it.

As the clock ticked by, Emily finished her fifth file, noting she was almost done. She was almost sure she had a larger pile earlier but guessed Spencer has stolen a few. He had started to do this recently, increasingly more and more often. After he had confessed that he knew both Prentiss and Morgan slipped him files, they had decided to both stop. To fix this, Reid has taken them himself. They had chosen not to say anything. JJ walked in with about ten files in her hand and stopped to give Reid two, who muttered something and instead got six. The pretty blonde walked to Morgan, who took the other four.

Spencer stood up to get more coffee before he started on the work load, but caught Emily's eye and gave her a small smile, acknowledging that she knew what he had done. He saw Morgan shake his head fondly at him too but he figured they wouldn't complain. He left to the break room.

Tying up her hair in a quick ponytail, Prentiss stole three files off Reid's desk and two off Morgan's before slipping them in her pile. Morgan looked up and smiled warmly at her actions. If she wanted to get them all finished soon, Emily would have to work faster and harder so she did just that. She carried on, even as Reid came back and pouted slightly, looking at her pointedly.

Around lunch time, the BAU resident genius left first. After around ten minutes, the brunette put on her coat, gave a sympathetic pat on Derek's shoulder, who had been given more difficult paperwork by their Unit Chief, then walked out of the bullpen. She returned later with her food. When lunch was coming to an end, Morgan sighed, but continued working. He gulped down the last of his coffee and his stomach grumbled.

Prentiss handed him her toasted sandwich, which smelt delicious and was warm in his hand. She shrugged and said something about having soup anyway (which she poured a bit of into a bowl from the break room and placed on his table).

When Reid returned, he put something on Emily's desk to which she gave a quizzical look. The former blushed and said she needed to take care of herself more and he was merely protecting his own body as they were working close by. She thanked him and took the cold medicine. After that, the sneezes and coughs stopped.

Morgan grumbled as he finished the reports Hotch wanted. There was a sharp pain in his head, throbbing repeatedly. He didn't have any aspirin with him. Just as he thought it, a bottle of water and a couple of pills appeared in front of him. Before Morgan could ask how he knew, he figured his answer would be something about Reid being a profiler. Derek ruffled the latter's hair and took the pills. Prentiss smirked and whispered that Spencer secretly owned a pharmacy to which the mentioned rolled his eyes at.

The day seemed to get colder and colder but thankfully, the hours passed quickly. JJ beamed at her friends as she collected the files back, telling them all to get some rest. She tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear and murmured for them to be careful, fretting for a moment. Jennifer then ran back to her office, before reappearing and handing Morgan a spray can before disappearing once again. He laughed and showed the others. It was a car windscreen de-icer.

Prentiss laughed too and quickly clamped her hand over Reid's mouth when he began to tell them about the chemicals in the de-icer. He grabbed one of her gloves in her pocket and threw it across the room before running to the elevator, vanishing behind metal doors.

When Emily and Derek reached the parking lot, Spencer was waiting patiently by Morgan's car, as he had promised them both a ride home. A squeal was emitted into the wintry air, forming little clouds of vapour, as Spencer laughed playfully having thrown two large snowballs at both his colleagues (Morgan obviously being the one that squealed). He was then ambushed by the two of them, being covered in snow after a mere few seconds. His cheeks and nose were tinged pink and he looked colder than ever, but Reid was laughing earnestly. Prentiss couldn't help but smile. She brushed the snow out of his hair and face and suddenly ducked when she saw Reid's right arm move quickly towards the snow collected on Morgan's car.

The woman opened the back door, climbed in and shut it quickly just as Spencer pelted another snowball at her, only for it to hit the window. Derek opened the passenger door and gently shoved Reid in who grinned up at him and smeared the remnants of the snow he held into his face, not noticing when something slipped from his neck. Choosing not to react, the elder bent down to pick the doctor's scarf off the floor, brushed it off and wrapped it around the latter's neck. A large fistful of snow landed on Reid's head. Morgan brushed his face clean and Prentiss chuckled. The door was shut and they began their journey home. The car was full of soft yet cheerful chatter, their spirits picking up after the snow incident. Soon they quietened down into a comfortable silence, listening to the peaceful evening radio music.

Crunching of the snow could be heard as Morgan drove up in front of Emily's flat. It was a relatively short drive, but it seemed the week had proved to be rather tiring, as soft, even breathing was the only sound in the car. After glancing at his two close friends, contemplating whether to wake them up or not, Morgan finally decided to turn off the engine and get out of the car but being careful to be quiet. Once out of the vehicle, he walked to the door opposite of Prentiss since she was sleeping with her head resting against the window. He gently shook her, bringing her out of her slumber.

Disorientated, the brunette gave a small smile at Morgan, before opening the door and stepping out and walking towards the latter. An offer of coffee was made. A quick look down at Spencer's sleeping form – it was politely declined.

Prentiss hugged her friend and made her way to the front door.

Derek chuckled. She was still slightly sleepy and dropped her keys a couple of times as she walked. Morgan got in the car and started the engine. Attempted to. Several times. The sound of a failing engine caused a few curses to let slip as well as a still resting Reid to stir. Shaking his head, Morgan got out and called out to his friend, suddenly choosing to take her offer of coffee.

Once they headed upstairs to Emily's place, Prentiss leading the way, Morgan with his arm around disgruntled Reid, they all settled into the living room. Hot chocolate was made and blankets were brought out of the store cupboard. Instead of watching TV, they sat wrapped in blankets with the heater on full, just talking. Prentiss huddling her large mug on the armchair adjacent to the sofa where Morgan sat, holding Reid close to him, using him as his own personal radiator (though the poor man tried to escape on several occasions but the other would not let up).

Soon, Morgan made to get up and leave but looked reluctant to after glancing out the window. There was a lot of traffic and even more snow. Emily just insisted they both stayed, even though they protested, she knew they wanted to stay in the warmth of her home. She smiled, left and made the double bed in the guest room while the other two finished their drinks.

When she returned, they all went to the kitchen and made instant noodles together, deciding that actually dinner would be too much of a fuss. For a while, they just chatted as they ate, all glad they had this time to catch up with each other. Although they were good friends, their relationships were only strengthened from the hours at work, instead of actually quality time like this, so for that reason, they felt grateful. Moving back to the sitting room, they watched a few TV shows but soon became disinterested and decided to go to bed.

After the men got ready to sleep, Emily entered the room, with extra pillows and blankets, even though they had plenty already. She fussed with the heaters, making sure they were on. Morgan teasingly asking for a goodnight kiss and puckering his lip – Prentiss responded by leaning right over him and kissing Reid's forehead instead, causing him to blush profusely, spluttering incoherent words before mumbling a quiet goodnight. Emily laughed softly. When she sneezed, Reid was quick to remind her of what he bought at lunch and Prentiss rolled her eyes and said goodnight before going to her own room.

It was a cold, icy night. The air was frosty. Fingers and feet were icicles and the snow had covered everything outside in an unforgiving, white state. Lifeless trees loomed and created dark shadows over sidewalks and roads.

Even so, Emily, Spencer and Derek felt warm as they slept through the night, content with the friendships they had and kindness that surrounded and enveloped them. Yes, they slept very well that night.


End file.
